I grow I grow angrywith those fools arguing that Hungary is being biullied by the EU.In February 2017, at the state of the nation address, Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary and the leader of the far-right, anti-immigrant Fidesz party, offered his vision for the country in the coming year. “We shall let in true refugees: Germans, Dutch, French, and Italians, terrified politicians and journalists who here in Hungary want to find the Europe they have lost in their homelands,” he proclaimed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/30/viktor-orban-fidesz-hungary-prime-minister-europe-neo-nazi
Peter Kréko, a Hungarian political analyst and academic researcher of populism and extremism at Indiana University Bloomington, said that the timing of Arktos’s move to Budapest was no accident. In 2014, Jobbik’s popularity surged, thanks to a platform that pledged to preserve Hungarian ethnic purity. That year, Orbán was also re-elected to a second term, and Jobbik won 20 percent of the national vote and 47 seats in the parliament, while Fidesz grabbed a super-majority. The Identitarians “are happy that they feel that in Hungary there is a leader that represents their values. These are people with an almost medieval view on the world and they find a safe haven in Hungary,” Kréko told me.
Prior to Arktos, Friberg also had long-standing and prolific ties to far-right extremists in Sweden. As a teenager, he was heavily involved with neo-Nazi groups and, at the age of 28, helped construct and manage the online forum Nordisk.nu, a 22,000-member-strong gathering place for Scandinavian national socialists, including Anders Breivik. Friberg also served time in prison for various offenses from 1995 to 2010, including for possession of a stolen AK4 rifle (a rifle formerly used by Swedish army) and other illegal weapons.
While Gyöngyösi admits to knowing Friberg, he claims he knows nothing of Friberg’s criminal history. Gyöngyösi was skeptical before I read from his arrest record, and ultimately admitted that he is “not particularly happy ... about any criminal from any country living in Hungary.” But most important to Gyöngyösi is “that nobody from outside imposes on Hungary some social model that is not welcome in Hungary.”
For now, these groups will continue to expand their vision beyond Hungary’s party politics. In January 2017, Arktos’s team and Spencer officially cemented their partnership when they teamed up to create AltRight.com, a “one-stop shop” for the emerging movement. Even Washington-based Breitbart is now rumored to be opening a Hungarian office in the near future, after acquiring the domain name Breitbart.hu. From their vantage, the possibilities of cross-border exchange look promising. In flocking to Budapest, these nationalist internationals are creating a sanctuary from which to broadcast anti-globalism across the globe.
Madeleine Albright thinks that Orbán’s Hungary is on the road to fascism
At 80 years of age Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright has had a long
political career. She served as the 64th U.S. Secretary of State under
President Clinton and was the first woman to hold this high level
position.
Albright has Czech ancestry. Her father was a well-known anti-fascist who worked for the Beneš government-in-exile in London and later became a political science professor in the US. One of his students, Condoleezza Rice, served as the 66th U.S. Secretary of State under President George W. Bush.
Madeleine Albright knows Eastern-Europe well. She speaks several languages, among them Serbo-Croatian. She also knows Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In her new book Fascism: A Warning she paints an unflattering picture of the Hungarian leader. Albright knows authoritarianism when she sees it and she sees the rebirth of the fascist ideas with the appearance of Turkey’s Erdogan, Venezuela’s Maduro and almost a full chapter of her book deals with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. In a recent interview she talked about Hungary’s xenophobia: “for instance, the prime example is Hungary with Viktor Orbán, who is now talking about illiberal democracy, which is basically a way to deal with whoever is not, in his description, a Hungarian so he can go after immigrants.”
Albright’s book is now a best-seller and being a long-time critic of the Hungarian leader I expected that Orbán’s loyal diplomats in the United States would attack her or at least avoid her company. On the contrary, they cannot resist her star power.
Ex-Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi, an Orbán confidant, openly admires her and recently elbowed herself next to her at a photo op.
UN Ambassador Katalin Bogyay went one step further and distributed a “best friend” photo with Albright.
You may ask the question: Why do ex-Ambassador Szemerkényi and Hungary’s UN Representative Ms. Bogyay distribute photos with one of the sharpest critics of their own government? It seems that several Hungarian diplomat have started to position themselves for the “after Orbán” times and they know that a photo with Albright might come handy after the fall of his authoritarian regime.
Ms. Szemerkényi and Ms. Bogyay can wave these photos as proof that they were always against the Orbán Viktatorship. Orbán is probably aware of the easily shifting loyalties of his diplomats; Hungary’s politicians turn on a dime and today’s loyal supporter may turn out to be a mortal enemy tomorrow.
So don’t be surprised if in the future more Hungarian officials will try to take photos with Albright. It is an insurance policy for the “after Orbán” times of Hungarian politics.
Albright has Czech ancestry. Her father was a well-known anti-fascist who worked for the Beneš government-in-exile in London and later became a political science professor in the US. One of his students, Condoleezza Rice, served as the 66th U.S. Secretary of State under President George W. Bush.
Madeleine Albright knows Eastern-Europe well. She speaks several languages, among them Serbo-Croatian. She also knows Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In her new book Fascism: A Warning she paints an unflattering picture of the Hungarian leader. Albright knows authoritarianism when she sees it and she sees the rebirth of the fascist ideas with the appearance of Turkey’s Erdogan, Venezuela’s Maduro and almost a full chapter of her book deals with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. In a recent interview she talked about Hungary’s xenophobia: “for instance, the prime example is Hungary with Viktor Orbán, who is now talking about illiberal democracy, which is basically a way to deal with whoever is not, in his description, a Hungarian so he can go after immigrants.”
Albright’s book is now a best-seller and being a long-time critic of the Hungarian leader I expected that Orbán’s loyal diplomats in the United States would attack her or at least avoid her company. On the contrary, they cannot resist her star power.
Ex-Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi, an Orbán confidant, openly admires her and recently elbowed herself next to her at a photo op.
UN Ambassador Katalin Bogyay went one step further and distributed a “best friend” photo with Albright.
You may ask the question: Why do ex-Ambassador Szemerkényi and Hungary’s UN Representative Ms. Bogyay distribute photos with one of the sharpest critics of their own government? It seems that several Hungarian diplomat have started to position themselves for the “after Orbán” times and they know that a photo with Albright might come handy after the fall of his authoritarian regime.
Ms. Szemerkényi and Ms. Bogyay can wave these photos as proof that they were always against the Orbán Viktatorship. Orbán is probably aware of the easily shifting loyalties of his diplomats; Hungary’s politicians turn on a dime and today’s loyal supporter may turn out to be a mortal enemy tomorrow.
So don’t be surprised if in the future more Hungarian officials will try to take photos with Albright. It is an insurance policy for the “after Orbán” times of Hungarian politics.
György Lázár
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